Timar

Timar, in the Ottoman Empire, grant of lands or revenues by the sultan to an individual in compensation for his services, essentially similar to the iqṭāʿ of the Islamic empire of the Caliphate. (See alsosipahi).

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feudal cavalryman of the Ottoman Empire whose status resembled that of the medieval European knight. The sipahi (from Persian for “cavalryman”) was holder of a fief (timar; Turkish: tımar) granted directly by the Ottoman sultan and was entitled to all of the income from it in...

empire created by Turkish tribes in Anatolia (Asia Minor) that grew to be one of the most powerful states in the world during the 15th and 16th centuries. The Ottoman period spanned more than 600 years and came to an end only in 1922, when it was replaced by the Turkish Republic and various...

in the Islāmic empire of the Caliphate, land granted to army officials for limited periods in lieu of a regular wage. It has sometimes been erroneously compared to the fief of medieval Europe. The iqṭāʿ system was established in the 9th century ad to relieve the state...

in Ottoman Empire

The destruction of the old army was completed in 1831 by the final abolition of the timar system. The remaining timars were resumed by the government. Although the new army was outfitted, equipped, and trained in the style of European armies and helped by a succession of European advisers (including the future chief of...

...supply, and arm their followers. It was that type of mukâṭaʿa that developed into the Ottoman form of fief, the timar, which was the basis of Ottoman military and administrative organization as the European portions of the empire were conquered from the vassals in the 15th century and placed under...

...who “leased” them to subordinates at his own will and to whom these rights reverted upon the death of the lessee. The most common leasing arrangement was the tımar. The tımarlı held the right to support themselves from taxes raised in their area. Typically, the holder of such a...

...their land. In Bosnia the Bogomils, equally persecuted by Orthodoxy and Catholicism, had religious as well as material reasons for conversion. In almost all areas the Ottomans introduced the timar system, based on previous Byzantine practices. All land was owned by the sultan—God’s representative on earth—but it was leased out to spahis (calvary corps members), who in return...

The basis of Ottoman rule in Albania was a feudal military system of landed estates, called timars, which were awarded to military lords for loyalty and service to the empire. As Ottoman power began to decline in the 18th century, the central authority of the empire in Albania gave way to the local authority of autonomy-minded lords. The most successful of...

The economic legacy of Turkish rule is also important. During the expansionist phase of the empire, Turkish feudalism consisted principally of the timar system of “tax farming,” whereby local officeholders raised revenue or supported troops in the sultan’s name but were not landowners. As the distinctively military aspects of the Ottoman order declined after the 18th century,...

...necessitated by the long wars, and inflation, aggravated by the influx of cheap South American silver from Spain, all contributed to the decline of the major Ottoman administrative institutions. The tımar (fief) system suffered dislocation when the peasants, because of high taxes, were forced to leave their lands. The highly effective Janissary corps (elite forces), because of a...